6.30pm A trio of Labour conference videos:
4.15pm MPsETC: The Coalition should not give in to votes for 16 year olds in a secret deal with Alex Salmond
2.30pm WATCH: Ed Miliband: "If I was in government tomorrow", I would put the top rate of tax back up to 50p
12.30pm WATCH: Ed Miliband insists union leaders are not pulling the Labour Party's strings
11.45am ToryDiary: Ruth Davidson attacks SNP for trying to "buy" independence with handouts – and announces Tory plans for a tax cut
ToryDiary: Tory backbenchers – and Alan Duncan – push for Cameron to claw back aid money from the European Union
Columnist Nadine Dorries MP: Ed Miliband is still a mystery opponent – to underestimate him would be foolish
Francis Davis on Comment: Gavin Barwell MP's mental health bill is a brilliant start. But the Conservative Party must now go further.
Local Government:
WATCH: Ed Miliband holds pre-conference question and answer session
"Ed will crash and burn": David Miliband's feud with Ed revealed
"The elder Miliband is said to view members of ‘Team Ed’ with disdain and has been known to ‘blank them’ in the corridors of Westminster. ‘He thinks we’re all useless,’ says one of Ed’s most senior advisers. In July, David was invited to guest-edit the New Statesman, which backed his brother, not him, for the Labour leadership in 2010. Asked whether Ed would be contributing to his issue, David shrugged and said: ‘I’ll text the guy.’ … ‘When David does this stuff,’ grumbles an aide to Ed, ‘I’m not sure how he thinks he’s “helping” us.’ Towards the end of last year, David was overheard telling a member of his inner circle: ‘Ed will crash and burn.’" – Mail on Sunday
Ed continues last year's pro-consumer messages, threatening to break up banks
"Miliband said that, if elected, he would cap the charges and fees of pension firms and force energy suppliers to pass on price cuts in an effort to ease household costs for families and the elderly. However, echoing shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, he told a public meeting in Manchester that an incoming Labour government in 2015 would not promise to reverse cuts made by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, saying “hard decisions” on spending would have to be made." – Scotland on Sunday
> From today - Columnist Nadine Dorries MP: Ed Miliband is still a mystery opponent – to underestimate him would be foolish
> Yesterday on LeftWatch: How to read the Labour Conference
Matthew d'Ancona: What’s the point of Labour when the coffers are empty?
"New Labour offered “prudence” as proof of its readiness for power – and we know how that particular movie ended. A convincing poll lead, the declaration of a national emergency, the promise to be fiscally well-behaved… all these are necessary punctuation marks for a party on its way back. But the much bigger and crueller question that must be answered in Manchester is the one that Miliband asks himself in private. What is the point of a Left-of-centre Labour leader with an empty wallet? His response will determine the success of this conference – and much else besides." – Matthew d'Ancona for the Sunday Telegraph
Oh no! Not wall-to-wall conference interviews (part 2)…
We can work with Labour but Ed Balls must go say Lib Dems…
"Ed Balls's personality would be a serious obstacle to any future Lib-Lab coalition, according to senior members of the Liberal Democrats, who describe the prospect of working with him as intolerable. The shadow chancellor may have to accept a lesser role in any future coalition as a price for the Liberal Democrats partnering Labour after the next general election." - Observer
.. as Lib Dems draw up plans to stay in coalition with Tories even if Labour win the election - Independent on Sunday
Claw back £4billion from the European Union, Tory MPs tell Cameron
"Britain is contributing around £33billion to structural funds to cover the period from 2007 to 2013. The taxpayer-funded payments are entirely separate from the UK’s international aid budget. Conservative backbenchers are now urging the Prime Minister to be more aggressive and demand the “repatriation” around £4.2billion of structural funding for the period between 2014 and 2020 which could then be spent on poorer regions in Britain rather than in other EU countries." – Sunday Telegraph
> Today on ToryDiary: Tory backbenchers – and Alan Duncan – push for Cameron to claw back aid money from the European Union
> From yesterday:
Steve Hilton is back, helping with Cameron's conference speech
"Tory aides are said to be nervous that Hilton’s involvement signifies a return to ideas and slogans that have failed to ignite public support. One source said advisers in Downing Street were worried that Hilton would spend his time “waffling on about the big society”." – Sunday Times (£)
George Osborne's CO2 tax will double UK electricity bills – Christopher Booker for the Sunday Telegraph
Boris annoyed at Strasbourg decision to open door for new militant strikes
"The European Court of Human Rights has given its initial approval to a submission claiming that UK laws unfairly restrict the power of unions to take industrial action. The decision brought an angry response from Boris Johnson, the Conservative Mayor of London, who last night condemned the intervention by the Strasbourg court as “totally unacceptable”." – Sunday Telegraph
Cabinet split over plan to raise council tax on big homes
"Tories fear George Osborne is preparing to bow to Liberal Democrat demands by unveiling proposals for new council tax “bands” for homes worth £1million or more. … The Sunday Telegraph understands [a group of Cabinet members who oppose the plans] includes Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, Grant Shapps, the Conservative Chairman, Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, and Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary." – Sunday Telegraph
No proof he said 'plebs': CCTV footage fails to show if Mitchell verbally abused police - Mail on Sunday
Drivers who only make short journeys should pay less motoring tax than long-distance road users, says Andrea Leadsom MP – Mail on Sunday
Cameron in crony row over Brazil factory
"David Cameron was embroiled in a fresh party funding row last night after he opened a factory in Brazil belonging to one of the Conservatives' largest donors. The Prime Minister is to face questions in Parliament over the decision to put Sir Anthony Bamford's JCB factory in Sao Paulo at the centre of his trip to the South American country." – Independent on Sunday
Scottish Tories would cut handouts to deliver a 1p income tax cut
"Party leader Ruth Davidson today launches her own attack on free prescriptions, tuition fees, bus passes and the council tax freeze, accusing the SNP government of ring-fencing them to “buy support for independence”. If in government, Davidson says the Tories would aim to cut spending on such policies and use the savings to cut income tax to below levels in the rest of the UK." – Scotland on Sunday
New year lay-offs: Army to fire 8,000 soldiers in 'fast-track' redundancies and sackings of over-45s (although the MoD deny plan) – Mail on Sunday
Labour MP Malcolm Wicks dies aged 65 - Observer
> From yesterday on MPsETC: Labour MP and former Minister Malcolm Wicks dies
30,000 join Belfast Ulster covenant march – Scotland on Sunday
> From yesterday - WATCH: Today's Ulster Covenant march and sectarian tensions
High speed rail link may be revised because of Heathrow – Sunday Times (£)
Hunt for next Archbishop reaches deadlock after 'snubbing' frontrunner Sentamu – Mail on Sunday
"Axing the British Antarctic Survey would mean the end of Scott's legacy" – Observer